


Running with Wolves

by lanyon



Series: Everything A Big Bad Wolf Could Want [2]
Category: Fairy Tales and Related Fandoms
Genre: Dystopia, Exhibitionism, F/F, M/M, Queer Characters, Trans Character, cross-dressing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-02-28
Updated: 2013-02-28
Packaged: 2017-12-03 22:44:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/703482
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lanyon/pseuds/lanyon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>For Picfor1000:</p>
<p>The revolution is coming and Little Red Riding Hood and his merry band of misfits are joined by Jack, the Giant-Killer, and Sleeping Beauty and her Princess Charming.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Running with Wolves

**Author's Note:**

  * For [morphosyntactic](https://archiveofourown.org/users/morphosyntactic/gifts).



It might be coincidence that Beauty wakes up the day the Beanstalk falls. They say that it was the Princess’ kiss. They say that the doctors found a cure (and everyone thought it was terminal). 

They say the stars are aligning, somewhere above the smog and the clouds. The walls around the city are built higher and the ditches are dug deeper. There may be a whole world out there or there may not. 

Jack is a mystery; the hacker who brought down the Beanstalk and the hedge funds. He is responsible for all the new financial widows. Jack is Little Red’s hero. He wants to meet him. He is the city’s Most Wanted, even more than Little Red. Little Red is only a little jealous. 

Jack is hard to track down but Little Red is resourceful and grown men weep when Little Red walks into a room. 

Jack and Little Red arrange to meet in the diner. Little Red must look his best; leather pants and silver stilettos and a blood-red corset. Big Bad smiles at him, lips curving pink. They sit in their usual booth, Big Bad’s fingers curling in Little Red’s hair. Snow White stands by the jukebox, counting out coins for the playlist of their lives. Goldilocks is nervous, standing at the counter, between Rose Red’s legs, hands on her thighs. 

The regulars have gone. As soon as Little Red walked in, one high heel in front of the other, his hips swiveling just so, the truckers and the drunks cleared out. The old hag behind the counter knows better than to say anything. Little Red took a flame-thrower to the last establishment that tried to kick him out. 

Three walk in. Big Bad’s nostrils flare. Three may not walk out. He sits up straighter and Little Red’s scarlet-painted nails dig into his knee.

The boy walks in first. He’s got a shaved head and he is slender and even smaller than Little Red. His baggy jeans hang loose at his hips and he’s wearing a flimsy grey tank-top, in spite of the weather, and his arms are covered in tattoos. A laptop bag is slung across his body, blocky and heavy. 

“ _Jack”,_ breathes Little Red and he has hearts for eyes and he’s still the prettiest boy in the room. 

Behind Jack are two women. One is pale and tall, with falls of dark brown hair and the blackest of shadows under her eyes. The other, wearing high heeled, thigh-high boots that make Little Red wriggle with _want_ , has dark eyes and close-cropped black hair and the most dangerous smile this side of Hansel and Gretel.

“New playmates for Little Red,” whispers Rose Red and Goldilocks wrinkles her nose. Jealousy is not her colour. Red lays her hands on top of Gold’s and they smile at each other. 

“Which one-a you is Little Red?” asks Jack. His voice is low but it carries. The hag behind the counter squints in confusion.

“We do come kinda colour-coded,” says Snow, leaning against the jukebox. She hits 23G and it’s _Then He Kissed Me_ and Big Bad barks out a laugh. 

“Who’re your friends?” asks Gold and Red’s fingers tighten over hers. 

“He asked first,” says the tall one. 

“Sleeping Beauty,” says Little Red. He is not stupid. “And the Princess. Come to join our band of merry-?”

“Delinquents?” says Jack and he walks to the booth and slides in, facing Big Bad and Little Red. 

“Kinda small,” says Big Bad. 

“Yeah, well, Thumbelina was my mom,” says Jack. 

(That is a lie. Jack’s mom was an alcoholic and Jack was born Jacqueline, nineteen years ago. He was disowned when he came home at fourteen with his first girlfriend and his first tattoo.)

“You’re pretty much Little Red’s hero,” says Snow. She walks over to Goldilocks and slips her arms around her waist and slips one hand down the front of Gold’s jeans. 

The hag tuts and refills the coffee pot. Gold lets out a soft breath and her eyes do not move from Jack. 

“They say you brought down the cops,” says Jack. 

“Yeah,” says Little Red. “Me ‘n’ Big Bad. Nothing a bit of C4 couldn’t handle.” 

“They say you brought down the banks,” says Snow. Her hand moves inside Gold’s jeans and Gold lets out a whimper, leaning back against Snow, exposing her throat and Red leans in and kisses the side of her neck. 

It’s all martial law and ghettos for the rich people now. 

“How’d’you get better?” Little Red wants to know, gesturing at Beauty, who’s still holding the Princess’ hand. 

“Didn’t you hear?” says the Princess. “True love’s kiss.” 

Sleeping Beauty smiles. 

(The truth is that there was a nurse, who took to Beauty when she was admitted to hospital, nearly thirteen years ago. When Beauty woke up, he’d lull her back to sleep with lullabies and ketamines, and all the doctors could not understand. The truth is that there is a nurse, lying on the ground in Beauty’s room, a knife in his back.)

“You some kinda hero? We don’t like heroes round here,” says Little Red.

The Princess laughs and it is beautifully warm and throaty. “I’m no hero, Riding Hood. I just want revenge.” 

Gold’s moans are louder now. Red muffles them with her mouth, kissing her sweetly.

“Exhibitionists,” says Little Red. 

“Master of the obvious,” says Jack. 

“Mistress, too.”

Jack’s eyes meet Little Red’s over the table and they both smile slowly. 

“Future’s looking pretty bright, Jack-the-lad.”

“The future’s positively blinding.” 

The city’s Most Wanted list grows by two today, with pictures of Sleeping Beauty and the Princess joining those of Little Red Riding Hood and her accomplice, the Big Bad Wolf, and the sociopathic sisters, Snow White and Rose Red and their pet kleptomaniac, Goldilocks. 

The future’s bright; the future’s blinding. The future’s every shade of white and silver. The future’s stolen shoes and sex in fast cars. The future’s guns and Little Red’s fascination with fire.

**Author's Note:**

> +For Picfor1000, using [this prompt](http://www.flickr.com/photos/desideria/207911607/).


End file.
